Quote: “As a lead or a high-horn player, you have to have confidence to be able to do it, kind of like a good quarterback in football. I don’t need to lead. I enjoy being a support player. I’m kind of like the bass in a barbershop quartet.”

December 16, 2010 -- San Diego, California, USA -- Left-to-right,.. Douglas Hall is the 4th horn, and Assistant Personnel Manager,.. Wei-ping Chou, aqssistant/utility horn,.. Benjamin Jaber has been Principal Horn of the San Diego Symphony Orchestra since May 2009,.. and Warren Gref has been a member of the San Diego Symphony horn section since 1979--- Mandatory photo credit NELVIN C. CEPEDA/San Diego Union-Tribune/Zuma Press

When the San Diego Symphony performed Strauss’ “Alpine Symphony” last spring, there were eight French horns on stage at Copley Symphony Hall and an additional 100 horn players in the balcony, in town for the Southwest Horn Convention.

“The first thing they did was yell from the balcony, ‘Ben! Ben!’ It was like a football game,” recalled the orchestra’s fourth horn, Douglas Hall. “And then when the entire horn section stood, they let out a cheer.

“We don’t get that very often, but it was really fun to have that kind of experience.”

Next weekend, when the symphony performs Strauss’ “Ein Heldenleben,” eight horns will again take the stage for a work that offers similar risks and rewards to the “Alpine Symphony,” but without their colleagues in the audience, it’s unlikely there will be any shouting.

Still, it’s become evident over the past two seasons that this is a section that deserves more than a few cheers. Challenged by arguably the most difficult of the orchestral instruments and inarguably the instrument most consistently exposed in the orchestral texture, the horn section has stepped up.

“The San Diego Symphony’s strength has changed over the years,” said Hall, who as assistant personnel manager has been involved in many of the auditions for new players. “And it’s gone in cycles. With David Atherton it reached a very high level; with Yoav Talmi it reached a very high level; and now with Jahja it’s reached a very high level.

“Each time, we see a rise in the players that come to audition.”

The horn section is a microcosm of the orchestra with its varied backgrounds and its mixture of youth and experience. Hall and second horn Warren Gref have both been with the orchestra for more than two decades. The orchestra’s third horn, Tricia Skye, has played with Hall and Gref for more than a decade, while assistant principal Wei-Ping Chou and principal Benjamin Jaber have joined in the past two years, part of the influx of younger players Ling has brought to the orchestra. (Additional players are added beyond that core five-member unit when the repertoire demands it.)

Out of that diversity, however, Jaber and his colleagues are able to consistently create a unified, cohesive sound that is one of the hallmarks of the orchestra’s continuing artistic renewal.

“We all form a concept, guided by myself, and hopefully everybody involved with the section listens to that concept and matches it, just like on any other team,” Jaber said. “It’s a team effort.”

Each of the players, however, has a slightly different role. Traditionally, horn parts are written in pairs, with one horn high and one horn low. Essentially the section is two pairs, with Jaber and Skye playing high horn and Gref and Hall playing low horn. As assistant principal, Chou helps relieve Jaber, who typically has an inordinate number of solo parts, and fills in as needed.

“It’s like an infield in baseball,” Gref said. “Each position is really important and each is very specific. Maybe somebody is a terrific shortstop, but may not be so well equipped in the other positions.”

The high parts are what get the most attention, requiring considerable expertise and the mindset of someone willing to be put in the forefront with the understanding that his or her every triumph — and every mistake — will be heard by even the least experienced audience member.

“I don’t know if it requires a special personality,” Skye said. “But I do know it takes a hefty set of chops.” She said that if she misses even a single day of practice, it is noticeable in her playing. “My teacher used to say if you miss one day, it sets you back two, and I found out she was right.”

The lower horns require no less expertise, but a different attitude. They play more of a supportive role, even if, like their high counterparts, they are continually exposed.

“I don’t like to think about that,” Hall said. “I try to practice what my teacher would call creative not caring, so that you don’t think about the exposure, you only think about the music. I also like what somebody called surfing the music, riding the notes.”

Those musical waves range from long sections of sustained notes, where the section reinforces the strings, to the music’s most dramatic or most lyrical themes. Given the demands on the instrument, the veterans like Hall are happy to have young talent like Jaber and Chou on board.

“When you play a sport with a pro, it’s easier to play,” Hall said. “When everybody else is putting their part in (in tune and on time), its easier to put your part in, it’s easier to buzz that note.

“You have to consider, (the horn) is not only an amplifier, but a microphone. When you have different waves hit the bell, it comes up and it vibrates on your face. So if you have poor intonation, it fights you, your lips actually get more tired. And when it’s working, and you are resonating with everybody on the same vibration, you can feel it. It’s much easier.”

“Ein Heldenleben” will be a special challenge. No composer, living or dead, is as understanding or demanding of the horn as Strauss. His father was a famous French hornist who indelibly influenced the son. “Ein Heldenleben” (“A Hero’s Life”) immediately begins with an angular French horn solo (supported by cellos) that is the hero’s theme. Traversing three-and-a-half octaves in three measures, it’s demanding, exhilarating and, for the performer, potentially heart-stopping.

Jabor quoted Simon Rattle, the music director of the Berlin Philharmonic, regarding the horn’s seemingly death-defying role in the orchestra. Rattle, known for making an unusual amount of eye contact with his musicians, said he never stares at horn players — ever — because they are “stuntmen” and you never stare at stuntmen before they are about to dance with death.

“That’s what we do,” Jabor said. “We’re really stuntmen. We’re the guy on the tightrope, the guy on the flying trapeze, the guy making everybody go, ahhhh.

“But our job is to make everything look as easy as possible. That’s our gig.”